Written in Stars
by hetawholockvengerstuck
Summary: John, Dave, Rose, and Jade are new students at SBURB, a prestigious boarding school. They were expecting it to be different from other schools; what they didn't expect was a malevolent headmaster, mysterious classmates and teachers, a vague and dangerous history, and the power they would receive. Highschool AU
1. Chapter 1

**Obviously, the teacher trolls are much older than they are in the comic, between 21 and 40, depending. And this, of course, is an AU.**

**Also I don't own stuff in this story, as per usual. **

"Wow, first day of high school!" John said. "I'm kind of nervous."

"Why? It's just like middle school, except with more losers," Dave said, scratching his head and yawning. "You didn't need to get all dressed up for it."

"My dad said that the first day of school we were supposed to wear our uniforms," John said. He glanced down at his blue pajama-like pants and his matching hoodie with the pale windy-looking symbol. "Although I do feel a bit ridiculous."

"We don't have to wear our uniforms. That would kind of cramp out style, right?" Dave looked to his left for reassurance from Rose or Jade.

"Actually," Jade said, "John's dad is right." She readjusted her black skirt and the dog ears that were sewn onto her hood.

"If anyone looks ridiculous, it'll be you," Rose smirked. "You're probably the only one not wearing strange pajamas."

"Jeegus," Dave grumbled. "Stupid Bro, always trying to trick me. Ironically, of course."

"Of course," Rose said.

"Aren't we a bit conspicuous?" Jade asked. "I feel so weird walking to school in a costume. What kind of school is this, anyway?"

"Prestigious, I believe," Rose answered. "My mother would never allow me to enroll in anything less. She even moved us all the way to Washington so I could attend."

"I miss my old flat," Dave said. "Bro insisted that we should move. I was perfectly fine going to the public school, but John just had to mention this thing, and I just had to be ironic and joke about it to Bro."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault, John. I'm just being—"

Rose sighed. "Yes, yes, ironic, we know."

Jade tugged on Rose's orange sleeve. "Is this it?" she asked, pointing to a large stone building that was coming into view. It was painted a brick red, and the roof was a dark teal-green that looked extremely out of place. There was a small, wide flight of steps leading to a sort of miniature plaza before the entrance, and engraved (and filled with marble) on the ground in front of the steps were the words "SECONDARY BIWEEKLY UNIVERSITY AND REAL-LIFE-READY BOARDING SCHOOL". Thankfully, whoever had named the school had saved their reputation by providing a relatively bearable acronym, SBURB.

"'Tis, fair witch," Rose said with a jokingly affected accent, poking at Jade's uniform. It did look rather like a witch's costume.

SBURB school worked on a rather convoluted basis: although the name of the school would imply that there were many weekly breaks, the policy of an actually biweekly schedule had been dropped long ago. The only thing that might tie in to the old 'biweekly' part was that the breaks were irregular in length and there was the occasional week off for no discernible reason. It was, in fact, a boarding school, and the children had already sent a majority of their things to the school. The courses offered a wide range of difficulty, and the students often moved up or down throughout the year, depending on their level of understanding and performance. They could also choose a course (as long as they followed a minimum requirement) as one would in college. And it was fairly typical for a student to attend for more than four years; a child did not graduate until they had fulfilled every one of the dozens of requirements. Consequently, the students were not so much divided into freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors as they were labeled with the number of years they had studied there.

This first building was not very wide, but it was tall and skinny; upon entering, the children were met with a long, dark hallway lined with doors with frosted windows and plaques bearing the names and titles of what they assumed to be professors. There were about twenty other kids milling about, filling the crowded hallway with a cacophony of voices, unsure of what to do next.

Not five minutes later, a tall, tanned boy bounced out of an open doorway and fired twin pistols into the air, damaging the ceiling. Groaning could be heard from the office he had left, made more audible by the sudden silence that followed this impromptu shooting.

"Alrighty, fellas and lassies!" The boy grinned and holstered his pistols. Dave smirked and nudged John; the boy was wearing a green shirt over a white T-shirt and khaki shorts, hardly a uniform. Not to mention the thigh holsters were probably not standard equipment at the school.

"Hey, he kind of looks like you!" Jade whispered to John, leaning across Rose and Dave to do so.

"No chit-chat, now! I'm Jake English, and I'll be showing you the ropes around here! Make sure you have an adventure buddy, because we don't want any of you chaps getting lost on your first day here!"

Dave sighed. "The heck is with this guy? He talks as if he's from the 1800's!"

"Nobody talked like that in the 1800's, Dave," Rose said. "More like early- to mid-1900's."

"Same difference, right?"

The children followed Jake English out the doors and across a short expanse of green grass on the side of the building, arriving at the back. There they found a wide-open, pentagonal lawn surrounded by white stone sidewalks. At each side of the pentagon was a large building, with a huge letter on the side. The building they had just left was Building E; to the left was Building A, then B, and so on and so forth. Above their heads were glass skybridges supported at intervals by large concrete pillars inserted in the grass.

"The floor is one-way glass, so if you're up there" -Jake pointed to a skybridge—" you can see down here, but if you're down here, you can't see up there. It creates quite the effect on a rainy day!"

The skybridges met in the middle of the pentagon in a large, matching hub about seventy feet in diameter, with a felt-lined roof and, they were told, benches to sit on and observe the weather or whatever they wanted to observe.

"If you look far enough westward from the Hub," Jake said, "you can occasionally catch a peep of the briny blue."

"It sounds beautiful," Jade whispered.

"That it is, missy!" Jake called back.

Jake led them around the pentagon until they reached Building A. "This holds the Art, Language, and History Wings, incorporating both world and English history and language. Over in Building B is the Science, Math, and General Technology classes. If you're looking for the hospital wing, it's at the top of Building B. Over in Building C is the cafeteria, coffee shop, a few stores…basically your one-stop shop for all needs. Building D is the Gymnasium, which includes a large pool, courts for badminton or tennis, basketball, indoor soccer, hockey, rugby, cricket, lacrosse, and an indoor track for races. As you can see, it's a whopper of a building!"

"Where do we get to sleep?" Dave called out.

"Hold your horses, young whippersnapper!" Jake answered. "We'll get their soon enough! This is only the inner circle of buildings!"

The walkways extended past the buildings, and Jake took the one that ran between A and B. They crossed under a heavily-treed area and emerged in a previously-hidden second pentagon, this one without adjoining glass skybridges.

"Adjoined to Building A is Building F, which holds a bunch of classes we couldn't sort anywhere else. Behind it is a meadow, but there's a garden, too. Don't go wandering too far on the meadow, though; if you're hoping to reach the road for some reason, it curves in the other direction. Building G, to our left, is the Armory, where you learn to fight and participate in duels. It's smaller than most of our other buildings. Across the way is Building H, and then Building I, which are reserved for dormitories."

"What? But they're so far away from the cafeteria!" someone complained.

"There's a small breakfast bar on the first floor," Jake said. "The point is that if you're hungry, you have to get up and go get food. That way you'll be awake in time for classes. Moving on, our last building, J, is the theatre. We have plays and musicals performed by our students and the occasional guest troupe, and they're quite a jolly good time, if I do say so myself. As for the other paths, they lead to the forest and cliffs on the edge of the property. Occasional fieldtrips will be made. Any questions?"

John raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"When do we get our schedules?"

"Good question, explorer!" Jake reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded stack of papers. He proceeded to hand out schedules to the newcomers. "If you need any help finding classes, during this first week there will be 2nd and 3rd year students in the halls to help. Just look for the black badges and you'll be there in a jiffy!" Jake fingered his own gold-insignia-ed black badge.

John received his schedule first out of his friends, and glanced over it. When Jade joined him, she compared their schedules.

"We have English together!" she said. Rose and Dave approached, and Jade checked theirs. "We all have the same English class. And fitness."

"I see none of you saw fit to take sewing class with me," Rose said.

"Or Robotics with me," Jade said.

"I have Biology with you, Jade," Dave said.

The children continued comparing schedules for a bit. Then Jake fired a pistol again.

"C'mon, chaps! It's near noon, and you'll be wanting to get to the cafeteria first to check out the selection!"

They were marched back to Building C. The sight they met dazzled most of them.

Inside, the cafeteria looked more like a huge log cabin. It reminded John of the time he had gone to Great Wolf Lodge, overlarge fireplaces and all. Along the wall to their left was a buffet with hundreds of foods from all around the world. Opposite was a nice sitting area with easy chairs and a fire, and in the middle, a wide-open expanse made less open by the many tables and chairs. On the far side there was a coffee shop, a bakery, a seafood restaurant, a pizzeria, a snack shop, an ice cream parlor, and a winding wooden staircase that led to a couple of upper levels of more shops and seating.

"The buffet is free, and in the morning you get a free coffee and day-old donut (first come, first served, of course) if you want. There are plenty of job opportunities here at SBURB, whether it be assistant teacher or barista at the coffee shop. And speaking of assistant teachers, here come a few now!"

Jake waved to a couple of gray-skinned girls walking by. It struck John as a bit strange, actually; gray skin, yellow eyes, candy corn horns, it all added up to nothing he had ever seen before.

"These two gals are trolls, from a country far away. Not telling you where, though. They're pretty secretive about it. Different culture and all that." The girls had joined Jake, and he patted one of them on the shoulder. "Aranea, Kanaya, good to see you! I was just telling these whippersnappers—"

"—about jobs, yes," Aranea finished. She smiled at the group. Dave nudged Rose, pointing out the lack of uniform on both girls with a smug smile. "It's very fulfilling work. I work as a volunteer couselor, so if any of you have anything you wish to talk about in private, my office is Room 8A in Building E!"

The shorter girl, Kanaya, nodded to the group. "I am Kanaya Maryam. I'm a second year here, and I help to teach sewing."

Rose smiled, just as her stomach rumbled.

"Look at the time! You kids can get whatever you want, just don't overstuff yourselves! You have years to try everything!" Jake said. He fired a pistol to dismiss them, with the effect of dispersing them.

"I really wish he'd stop doing that," Dave said. "I keep thinking the bullet is going to come back down and go through my skull. It would be such a lame way to die."

"Looks like the staff here isn't so keen on it either," Rose said, indicating an angry Italian who had come out of the pizzeria to yell and gesticulate angrily at Jake. "Where do you guys want to eat?"

"Let's try the bakery!" Jade said.

The door opened with a cheery chime. Behind the glass case holding the food was the distorted face of an employee stocking the shelves. When she heard the bell, her face popped up above the counter, revealing in greater detail a pair of glasses, short black hair, and a tiny moustache.

"One moment please!" she said, and wiped the moustache from her face. It landed on the counter by the cash register. "How can I help you?"

John perused the baked goods. There were quiches, breakfast cakes, fresh loaves of bread, pies, biscuits, donuts, muffins, sandwiches, and bagels. Scones were piled neatly next to tarts in beautiful patterns.

"I'll have a poppyseed muffin, please!" Jade said.

"How about a slice of apple pie?" Dave said as he leaned on the counter nonchalantly.

"Plain bagel, please. With some cream cheese on the side." Rose glanced at John. "What are you getting?"

John straightened up. "Maple bar donut, please, and a chicken and pesto sandwich. Hey, who makes all these things? They're really expert quality."

Dave groaned. "Here he goes, taking after his dad. Lay off the baking talk, John."

But the cashier grinned. "Thank you! I made them. Baking's my passion, so I got permission from the school to open this little shop here. If you're interested, I run a cooking club after school on Thursdays."

"Sounds like fun," John said. The girl got their orders and handed them their goods on plates. As she did so, John caught sight of her nametag: "JANE".

The kids enjoyed their brunch, finishing in time to make it to their first class of the day. According to a note that had come with their schedules, they were starting an in-class tour. John and Rose headed off to Advanced Algebra, Jade went to Robotics, and Dave—well, Dave wouldn't say what class he had.

/

When Jade walked into Robotics Class in Building F, the first thing she saw was the hulking teacher at the front of the room battling an equally hulking robot. She scooted sideways along the wall to join the rest of the students in a huddle by the back wall. But instead of meshing in with the others, she just sort of stood in the front, watching with interest.

In one swift motion, as the robot made to punch the teacher in the face, he ducked and smashed his hand through the robot's torse, yanking out a robotic heart. Blue liquid that might have been the robot's blood poured out onto the floor as the machine crumpled to the ground.

For a moment, the teacher stood with the robot's heart in hand, breathing heavily. Then he tossed it onto a pile of parts and turned to face the class, adjusting his broken shades.

"Please excuse my behavior, I prefer to warm up a bit on the first day of class each month," he said in a polite but gruff voice. "There is no reason to be afraid. In fact, I order you to not be afraid. Take your seats."

Jade moved forward and found a window seat near the front of the room. Only when she was sitting did she realize that the rest of the class had yet to move.

"Good. We have one student in this room who will listen to orders. What is your name, student?"

"Jade Harley."

"I look forward to having you in this class, Jade Harley. The rest of you, sit down and be quiet. I will be introducing your first assignment today, and we'll spend the week learning the skills to complete it. You will be attempting to build a robot in the likeness of yourself."

/

When John and Dave stepped into the armory, they were met by a voice shouting "Think fast!" and a double-edged trident hurtling towards their heads. Luckily, they heeded the warning; Dave dodged the weapon by hopping to the side, and John ducked just fast enough for the spikes to bury themselves in the wall where his head had been, trapping his hood between them so it draped over the points.

"Good work, guppies! You pass the first test!" A long-braided troll woman strolled up and yanked the trident out of the wall. "But where the heck is your uniform, kid?" she asked, turning on Dave. "I know they're a load of fishcrap, but rules are rules—sometimes."

"Didn't feel like conforming." Dave tossed his hair in an attempt to look cool, but it really just looked like he had a nervous tic.

The lady slapped Dave on the shoulder. "You might be alright, kid. What's your name?"

"Dave Strider."

"And your friend?"

"John Egbert."

"Welcome to the armory, guppies. You'll be joining the rest of the crew in the actual armory. It's the door to the right." The woman gestured down the hallway. Looking around, John noticed that it was only a hallway they were in; although farther down there was what looked like a dojo, the only other exit was the door that their instructor was indicating.

The boys entered the room and looked around in awe. The room was incredible tall, and every square inch of space was covered in various weapons: axes, swords, needles, wands, chainsaws, hammers, knives, and maces were only a few of the choices. There were about ten other kids gawking at all the dangerous objects they were surrounded by.

Shortly after, the instructor entered the room and closed the door. "Alright, guppies, let's get started. I'm Meenah, and I'll be your queen while we learn the fine art of culling. Our first order of business is to determine which of these fine toys you are most comfortable handling."

A small Asian girl raised a hand. "But I don't believe in fighting!"

Meenah chuckled. Suddenly, a knife whizzed by the girls ear.

"Still don't believe in it? These things on the wall are all real, girly. Every single one of them could kill you in at least fifty different ways, when handled by an expert. There's no time to be standing in the background and fretting. What's your title, girl?"

The girl trembled. "S-s-seer of Life."

"Damn. Why'd they give me a Seer? Useless when they first start. You're going to cause me trouble, I can tell. Still, you all passed the first test. If you hadn't, well, I wouldn't be glubbing to you now, would I?" Meenah's grin widened into something much more sinister.

"You! Strider!" Meenah sank her nails into Dave's shoulder. "You go first. What do you think we should start with?"

Dave surveyed the options. "Swords are cool."

Meenah nodded and sprang away, choosing a broad blade from the wall and tossing it to the blond boy. "Try it out on this!" She pressed a button on a previously-hidden panel, and a battle dummy dropped from the ceiling.

Dave squared off, taking in the dimensions of his opponent. Without even a battle cry, he rushed at the thing and swung.

The top half of the blade connected and snapped back, iron and steel cracking as the sword shattered into two bits. The dummy was cut in half, but so was the sword.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then Meenah shrugged. "Guess you'll have to stick with that now that you've broken it. Good luck, kid."

She strode back over to John. "Your turn, kid. What do you think?"

"I don't really know anything about weapons…"

"A newbie, eh? This ought to be fun." Meenah gripped his shoulders and steered him around the room. "We can try all sorts of things. How about a mace?" She reached up and nudged a medium-sized one from its hooks. John caught it on instinct and held it awkwardly. "No, too badass for a nerd like you. Wanna try a crossbow? No aim? Bummer. Maybe you're more of a rapier guy! Actually, no, what was I thinking? Damn, you're not even built for a sword. What am I supposed to do with you?" Meenah released her grip on John and tapped her chin thoughtfully. Then her eyes lit up and her grin returned. "Maybe…"

She dashed across the room and proceeded to hop from weapon to weapon up the wall, occasionally knocking a sword or shield from the wall and creating a general hazard for anyone foolish enough to stand directly under her path.

Finally, Meenah approached the top of the wall, slammed her trident into the woodwork, perched on it, and, with both hands, reverently lifted a brilliantly coloured war hammer. She lowered herself onto an unoccupied hook, removed the trident, and proceeded to make her way back down the wall in this fashion, alternately perching on her own weapon and moving to another to reposition it.

When she reached the floor, she hopped off the trident and left it behind in her haste. She practically ran into John in her exuberance.

"The Warhammer of Zillyhoo," she said, uttering the words in a softer tone. "It was found in an abandoned church with an inscription stating that the true wielder of this hammer would be incompatible with any other type of weapon, and he alone could truly wield its power. If I were to attempt a fight while using this, it would throw me back. It's a bit of a risk, but you should try it out."

John accepted the war hammer with apprehension and moved into the center of the room. A circle of fellow students formed around him like stationary vultures around a dying carcass. The mood was about as cheery, too.

As John lifted the weapon above his head, he felt energy coursing down his arms and into his shoulders. It felt like the power of a million laughs was augmenting his strength, begging to be let out in one fell swoop—

And in that one fell swoop, John brought the hammer down.

From the center of impact, a heavy, sharp gale expanded like a superfast ripple on the surface of a tensed body of smooth water. The students grabbed at each other to avoid slamming against the wall. There was a tremendous rattle; as the wind rushed up the walls, it upset the balance of the weapons and brought them raining down, forcing the children to dash about like rabbits to avoid being impaled on the falling swords and arrows. As a final insult to the room's safety precautions, every single roof panel swung down and battle dummies fell from the sky.

When John opened his eyes, he saw a mess of blades and bows, children shaking in their boots, battle dummies hanging like executed criminals, and a few piles of stuffing and hay where Dave's blade had sliced through the canvas shells. Said Strider was currently giving him a thumbs-up.

But it wasn't Dave's opinion that John wanted. Bashfully, John turned around, waiting for the verdict from Meenah, convinced that he had failed horribly.

But to his surprise, Meenah began to clap. "It looks like we've found the hammer's owner! What's your title, guppy?"

"Heir of Breath," John said.

"Of course! That hammer is a wind weapon. We should've known a Hero of Breath would inherit it. But—" Meenah looked around "—I really don't want to have to clean this up. New assignment, kids! Clean up time! If you find a weapon you like, try taking out a few dummies with it. I'll get the higher weapons; anything with a number label in the 400's, don't touch!"

Dave turned his weapon over and saw for the first time the golden plaque with the number 45 engraved on it.

The rest of the students groaned. Needless to say, John was not the favourite of his classmates.

/

"Ow!" Rose sucked her injured finger. It was the third time today that her hand had slipped and the sewing needle had plunged into her flesh.

"Are you doing okay?" Kanaya asked. Despite her job title as assistant teacher, Rose had noticed that she was doing more of the work than the female Jabba the Hutt behind the desk.

"Yes, just a flesh wound," Rose joked. Regardless, Kanaya leaned down and examined Rose's pinpricks.

"Here, you're holding the needle wrong. Try this." Kanaya took Rose's hand and repositioned it on the needle.

"Thank you," Rose said.

"No problem. What are you making?" Kanaya asked. The teacher had simply said that the assignment was to sew something, and Kanaya had added that this first project would be a free-form one, with help from her.

"I want to make a laptop cozy," Rose said. "I knitted one once, but I want to try sewing one."

"Interesting! Most people here are trying to make scarfs. I don't think they realize that knitting is a more efficient way to make that."

They laughed.

**I'm very much looking forward to next chapter! Reviews are appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

The kids met outside their third period classroom in Building A and entered together. For all of them, this was the first class in which they had a seating chart. John was in the second row and against the wall; Dave was front and center; Rose was in the back, and Jade was on the opposite side of the room from John. Some of the students spent their time chatting at their friends' desks.

"Alright, brats, sit down!" The teacher, Mr. Vantas, slammed the door open and shut, plopped his books on the desk, and turned. Very few of the kids had listened.

"SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN NOW!" he screamed, and this time the kids wisely obeyed.

It was soon established that Mr. Vantas spoke in a perpetual yell, punctuated by periods of straight-out screaming.

"In my class, you will obey my instructions and do as you are told. I won't accept late work without a good reason, I will not tolerate unfinished homework, I will not tolerate chatting in class, and in no avoidable circumstance are you to be out of your seat when the period begins. You will take notes when you are told to. You will read the books I assign. And most of all, you will _pass_."

He paused in his speech. Then he started pacing and continued, "The books you will be reading throughout your stay here, if you stay long enough, will be lengthy. Some of the titles are _The Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, The Odyssey, Sherlock Holmes, _and my favourite, _Romeo and Juliet_."

"Laaaaaaame."

Mr. Vantas whipped around and slammed his hand onto Dave's desk. "What was that?"

"I said lame."

Mr. Vantas narrowed his eyes. "Let's get things straight, Strider. None of the books we will read in this class are lame. Debatably, the characters in _Romeo and Juliet_ are not the best. Juliet is the real hero, and Romeo is a wimp. But there are lessons in that book. You will respect, if not enjoy, the books. And you will not interrupt me when I am talking to slander the books."

He straightened up. "If you see fit to continually break my rules, you will be forced to attend detention with my cousin Kankri. And I warn you, I almost didn't receive clearance for that. They thought it might be cruel and unusual punishment."

Perhaps the threat would have carried more weight if it had had time to sink in, but at that moment a loud series of thumps came from the wall.

_THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._

Mr. Vantas sighed. "One moment, please." He approached the wall and pounded on it. He waited.

_THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._

Mr. Vantas pounded back.

_THU-THUMP THUMP TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-THUMP THUMP TH-THUMP TH-THUMP TH-TH-THUMP TH-THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP TH-TH-THUMP THUMP TH-TH-THUMP THUMP THUMP TH-TH-THUMP TH-THUMP THUMP TH._

"I'M TRYING TO TEACH A CLASS! WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING?" Mr. Vantas yelled. It wasn't a mean yell, more of a frustrated attempt to project his voice through the wall.

There was a pause, and there came a response. _TH-TH-TH-THUMP THUMP THUMP TH-THUMP-TH-TH-THUMP-TH-THUMP TH-THUMP THUMP._

Mr. Vantas sighed. "Sorry about the interruption, kids. Now, starting tomorrow we'll be reading _The Hound of the Baskervilles_. I suggest you either visit the library down the hall or check out the bookstore on the second level of the cafeteria. Class dismissed."

/

"The body is a miracle," Mr. Makara said in his carefree hippy voice. "So many systems. How do they all know what to do all the time?"

Jade nudged a snoring Dave, who was sharing a table with her. He woke up with a snort.

"We'll be learning about the body, and about the cells, and all the little miracles that make life possible." The teacher picked up a horn and honked it, effectively, if not intentionally, waking up anyone who had fallen asleep to the soothing drone of his voice.

When class ended, Dave said, "That's gonna be one lively class, I can tell."

/

When the kids reunited at the gym, they found a handwritten sign that said "M-E-ET AT T)(-E POOL!"

The lights were off until they walked in, and then the students, as one group, drew back in awe. There were multiple pools, each larger than any they had seen before. There was a warm pool, a hot tub, multiple hot springs, and a gigantic, long pool for swimming. It curved off into strange shapes at regular intervals.

There was still no teacher in sight. John approached the pool, looking at the banners on the wall. "This seems like a cool place, huh?"

"Y-EP!" Right by his feet, a goggled head popped out of the water and grinned.

"Yargh!" John jumped back and slipped on the tiles, landing firmly on his rump. The head in the water moved closer to the edge of the pool, grew a pair of arms and hands, and vaulted out, revealing a body underneath. The teacher, it seemed, had arrived.

"Sorry aboat that! I couldn't resist a swim before class!" Strong arms lifted John to his feet. "Hello everyone! I'm Ms. Peixes, but you can just call me Feferi! We're going to have so much FUN in this class!" She giggled.

"Normally, at this time," she continued, "between third and fourth period, you would have lunch. But we have a strange schedule today, so you get to visit the pool! It's my favourite part of the school. See these branches? They all lead to a shape that corresponds with the titles you have. There's Breath, Time, Space, Life—that's mine!—Doom, Rage, Blood, Light, Mind, Heart, Hope, and Void. Anyone can swim in any symbol, but I think you'll find it more enjoyable to navigate the shape you belong to! But we don't have time to change into swimsuits and change back for fifth period, so I thought I would just give a quick intro."

Rose raised a hand. "Are we going to have units other than swimming?"

"Of course! But swimming will always be an option, and we'll do it frequently. Is there anyone here who doesn't know how to swim? Come on, don't be shy!"

Rose raised her hand, as did Dave. A few other students joined them.

"Looks like I'll have my fins full with this class! But that's okay, teaching you guppies will be a piece of kelpcake!"

The bell rang for dismissal from fourth period. Feferi pouted playfully. "Darn, it looks like we're out of time. I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow, though!"

"I like her," Jade said as they left the gym.

"Your butt's wet," Dave said to John. John tugged on his hood in a futile attempt to hide it.

/

Over dinner that night, the children shared stories about their sixth period classes (they all agreed that Ms. Maryam, the history teacher, was okay, although Dave insisted she spent all too much time on women's rights and Jade was a bit thrown off by all the piercings).

"French with Madame Latula was enjoyable," Rose said. "She seems like a nice person, if a bit eccentric. She came into the room on a skateboard."

"Señor Rufioh had all the girls in the class sighing," John said.

"I'm not sure how I feel about Sign Language," Dave said. "The teacher, Mr. Kurloz Makara, is a relative of Mr. Makara from Biology, but his mouth is literally sewn shut and he painted his face to look like a skull. It's not even ironic, just sort of creepy."

Jade coughed. "Ms. Megido is…well…I don't know what she's saying half the time…and she kept flipping us off and smoking the entire class…I don't think I'm going to learn much in Japanese. Maybe I can switch into French?"

A disturbance across the room drew their attention. There, a boy in a wheelchair called out ineffectually to a girl with long black hair and a sinister smile.

"C'mon, um, give it back!"

"You want it? Come and get it! Oh wait, you can't! Guess I'll just keep it for you!" The girl bounded between the tables until she reached the kids at the other end of the room. She drew up a chair and kicked her feet onto the table, narrowly avoiding Jade's bowl of soup.

"What a pushover!" the girl laughed, holding up her prize. It was a slice of cake from the bakery. "He needs to learn not to leave his desserts unguarded. You would think after living here for a month, he would know better!" She reached over and stole John's fork. "But I'm not complaining. More for me!"

Dave drew his apple pie closer to his body.

After consuming about half the cake, the girl burped and looked around her. "But where are my manners? I'm Vriska, Thief of Light and a terror to all those with treasure. Best ally you'll ever have the chance to make, provided you do what I say. How about it?"

John smiled. "Nice to meet you, Vriska. I'm John. This is Jade, Dave, and Rose." The others waved a bit, but mostly ignored the newcomer.

"Title?"

"What?"

"Come on, you can't expect me to talk to just anyone. I mean, there's no point in allying yourself with a Seer, right? What do they even do?"

Rose _ahem_-ed politely, yet in a way that conveyed the sentence "Excuse you, but I happen to be a Seer and I take mild offense to your close-minded comment".

Vriska raised an eyebrow. "Really? What are you Seer of? Puppy dogs?" She laughed at her own joke.

"Light, actually, if you couldn't tell from the clothes. I see we match."

Vriska stopped laughing. "I guess I can give you a pass, since we're both Light. But what about you guys?"

"I don't see why it matters," Jade said. "It's just a silly custom, right?"

"Silly custom? Your title means everything here!" Vriska set her plate down, having consumed her ill-gotten baked good. "There are special classes offered to titles. They help you develop abilities that are specific to your class. There are some pretty potent classes, too. You know Mr. Makara, the biology teacher? He's a Bard of Rage. You may laugh, but when he's angry—or sober, actually, since he's usually high—he can go on murderous rampages. And the drama teacher, Mr. Ampora, is a Prince of Hope. And if you ever have him, you'll know why. He basically takes all your hopes and dreams and pulls them apart one by one. Not a very pleasant person. It's why I dropped the class. So I repeat, what about you guys?"

"I'm an Heir of Breath," John said. Vriska raised her hand for a high-five.

"Witch of Space," Jade said.

Vriska whistled. "Space player, huh? Pretty powerful stuff. Space players get some special privileges here. Higher classes and all that jazz. You'll probably have to drop a language or something."

Jade grinned.

"Knight of Time," Dave said, stirring his root beer. Vriska raised an eyebrow.

"A Time player and a Space player? Good gosh, John, you know how to pick friends!"

A shadow loomed over Vriska. A distinctly Mr. Makara-looking shadow.

"Yo, Serket, Tavros over there told me that you stole his motherfuckin' cake. You know I can't motherfuckin' allow that sort of behaviour. Why don't you just give it to me and I'll return it to him?"

Vriska's eye twitched. "You're a bit late, sir. I ate it already."

"Well, you'll just have to buy him a new motherfuckin' cake, won't you?"

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Makara wandered off, back towards the high table where the teachers sat. Vriska grumbled and stood up.

"It's safer to do as he says. See you losers around!" With a wink, the Thief of Light shot off to buy another slice of cake.

/

"I don't like the look of her," Dave said.

"She seems harmless enough," John countered.

"Harmless? She stole a cripple's cake!"

"She bought him a new one."

"After she was threatened by a hippie with an anger problem!"

"I like her," John said. "She seems like a good person to get to know. No one else has reached out to us."

"After your little stunt in the armoury, I doubt many of them would."

The boys had left the girls at their dormitory and were approaching their own. An older student ran out to them and handed them room assignments.

"Adjoining rooms!" John said. "Good, at least my roommate isn't some freak."

They rode the elevator up to the third floor and located rooms 3G and 3H. There was a door between them labelled 3GH. Having been given three keys, they opened this one first.

Inside was a large sitting room with a flatscreen TV and two long couches that took up a wall and a half. A window ran above the couch facing the door. Behind the half-wall containing a painting and the other couch, the kitchen and a small table waited for use, labelled 3H, was situated in the left wall, between the TV and a potted plant next to the window. The door to 3G was next to the pantry door in the kitchen.

The boys went their separate ways, Dave to 3H, John to 3G. John's bed was opposite the door, and to his left a bit. It was a king-sized bed, with oaken headrest and soft blankets, and fluffy pillows. The walls were a deep navy blue. Another window ran along the wall to his left, underneath which was a sturdy plastic-and-metal desk with an internet hub and an inkwell. The chest of drawers stood to the right of the bed and held a lamp on top. A nightlight threw little moons and stars on the wall. A bathroom and a closet were found on his right.

All of John's luggage was in a pile by the door, so he set about putting away his clothes and organizing his possessions in a way he thought looked best. When that was done, he ventured across into Dave's room.

The walls here were more of a dull raspberry colour, and the lamp was brighter. There was no window. It looked like a mirror image of John's room, recoloured and a lot darker.

And messier. While John had been meticulously folding his clothes and storing his supplies, Dave had apparently seen fit to throw things all over the floor. There was a pile of clothes, some records, and a whole stack of apple juice just waiting to be tripped over.

Dave himself was currently in the bathroom, putting more apple juice in the medicine cabinet.

John backed out and tested the couch. It wasn't half-bad. In fact, it was rather comfortable.

_Knock knock_. Reluctantly, John left the soft embrace of the couch and answered the door.

Rose and Jade were admitted in, and the three of them returned to the couch.

"We got adjoining rooms, too!" Jade said. "And my walls are pastel green, and there are Chinese lanterns all around. There's even a window-box for my flowers!"

"My room is pastel orange, and the window is positioned so I'll wake up with the sun. It's quite comfortable." Rose had changed into her normal clothes, and was currently knitting a scarf.

"Where's Dave?" Jade asked.

"Putting apple juice in the bathroom."

Jade blinked.

Dave poked his head out of his room. "Hey. Are people allowed to just wander between dorms or something?"

Jade shook her head. "Only girls. Boys have to have special written permission from the girl in question to visit her room. Seems sort of unfair."

"A bit," John said.

The kids turned on the TV and half-watched it for a while, until Rose insisted that it was time for bed and the girls left. After that, Dave and John drifted to their respective rooms and buried themselves in the warm blankets and sheets for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, brats," Mr. Vantas barked. "As an unfortunate scheduled interruption from our usual curriculum, we'll be talking about your SBURB career path. No groaning!"

"Today, we're talking about Knights. Some of you, of course, aren't Knights. That's fine. You may think that what I'm about to say doesn't apply to you. That's not fine. It is important for everyone to know how Knights work, because eventually you may be organized into teams, and you'll need to know the abilities of your teammates. Now, how many Knights do we have in this class?"

A few students raised their hands, Dave included. Mr. Vantas's face twisted into a grimace before recovering.

"Good, then I see there's a point to this lecture. Luckily for you, I am a Knight myself, so you'll be getting accurate information."

A girl in the back raised her hand. "What are you Knight of?"

"Wait until I have called on you to ask a question!" Mr. Vantas rubbed his face. "To answer your question, I am Knight of Blood. But that's not the point. If you want to learn the particulars about your title, there are groups for every single one.

"As a Knight, you have the power to wield your aspect as a sort of weapon. You can go on the offensive if you wish, but many Knights task themselves with the role of protector of their non-combative teammates. For example, if you are a Knight of Hope, you might use Hope to boost your teammates morale, and you might destroy the hope of your enemies.

"Many classes are divided into passive and aggressive. A Rogue and a Thief are much the same, but the former is a passive class and the latter is an aggressive class. We aren't fully sure what each pair is, but it is generally agreed upon that Heir and Knight are the opposite sides of the same coin. What we don't know is which one is the passive class. Knight is one of the classes that seems to fall into both categories. If you have further questions, you can ask me, or consult Madame Latula, the Knight of Mind. And now we can start reading. We'll start on page one."

_TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-TH-THUMP._

"NOT NOW!"

/

At lunch, Vriska sat down without asking, as if she had known the kids her whole life.

"How's the school been treating you? It can be kind of overwhelming at times."

Jade rubbed her temples. "I can't wait to switch out of Japanese. I've tried, but I just can't deal with Ms. Megido anymore!"

"No one can, but not many can switch out. You're lucky you're a Space player."

"You keep saying that," John said. "What do you mean by player?"

"Oh, this is an interesting topic!" Vriska tossed her hair. "It involves the history of the school. Unfortunately, the time it takes to tell the tale exceeds the time we have to eat, so I would rather not start it. How's about this: I'll write you boys a pass, and you guys drop by tonight around seven-thirty with your dinner. I'll tell you everything then, maybe introduce you to some friends of mine who can answer more of your questions."

Rose and Dave exchanged a look, reluctant to venture into what they felt to be the spider's lair. But the way Vriska talked about it, it seemed like something important. Basing their decision solely on this impulse, they agreed.

/

Thus, later that day, the children grabbed some food from the buffet and walked across campus. The boys presented their note to the door guard, and they made their way up to room 8M.

Vriska answered the door and ushered them into a room that more closely resembled the boys' room than the girls' room. She introduced them to her roommate, Aradia Megido (niece to Ms. Megido), and the friends she had gathered.

"John, Rose, Jade, Dave, this is Aranea, my cousin."

"We've met briefly," Aranea said.

"And this is Miss Terezi Pyrope, the Criminal Justice teacher. If you have Mr. Vantas for English, you might have heard her."

The red-spectacled woman in question grinned, displaying razor-sharp teeth. Rose recognized her method of dress; it was the same colour scheme as Madame Latula, but with a longer tunic, and a red dragon cane resting on the couch next to her.

"That's you banging on the wall?" Dave asked.

"Morse code. We've been doing it for years."

"What were you saying on the first day of school, during third period?" Jade asked.

"Well, first I was just trying to get his attention, but then I asked what he was doing. He responded through the traditional method of communication, and I apologised."

"Why not just walk over and talk to him?"

"He rearranged the desks. I haven't gotten used to it yet."

Polite but confused silence followed. Vriska broke in.

"She's blind. Mostly."

"Besides, it's more fun to communicate through the wall!"

"Well, nice to meet you, Miss Pyrope," Jade said.

"Don't be so formal," the teacher said. "Terezi is fine. Unless you're in my classroom."

"K, moving on," Vriska said, "I believe at least one of you must know Madame Latula Pyrope, Terezi's older sister. She's not especially important here, and neither is Miss Meulin, the nurse. They're only here to keep an eye on Mituna."

"He's still Professor Captor to you," Latula said. She sat next to the man Vriska had called Mituna. On the other side of him was another woman, Nurse Meulin.

Every one of the kids was unable to draw their eyes from Mituna. His spasming hands held a yellow helmet, and he wore a yellow jumpsuit, but besides his unteacherly garb, his appearance was even more startling. His forehead was criss-crossed with painful-looking red-and-blue veins that led to his eyes. He twitched uncontrollably and shied away from any touch. He tried to say hello, but it came out garbled, and was followed by a stream of curses and obscenities that would make even Mr. Makara blush. If asked to describe Professor Captor in one word, the children would have said, "broken."

Vriska took a seat and motioned for her guests to do the same. John and his friends took the floor.

"You asked why I used the term 'player'," Vriska began. "And I told you that I'd need help explaining. Aranea, why don't you take over?"

Aranea nodded. "It goes back to the founding of the school. Our esteemed founder and headmaster, Andrew Hussie—"

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Professor Captor flinched.

"—had a vision for the school. He created a model for it on a video game platform, organizing his thoughts in such a way as to be incomprehensible to any outside observer. No one knows why he did this. But he outlined such a complex formula that no one has argued since."

"Professor Captor, Madame Latula, Terezi, Nurse Meulin, and myself were four of the original teachers hired to work here. The others were the two Makara's, Mr. Vantas, Ms. Megido, and the janitor, Horuss. We were handpicked with no explanation. And for a while, all things were normal. We didn't question the strange titles or the costumes given us for special occasions. Neither did the students.

"But things started to get out of hand. We began getting notes from the headmaster's office, asking for 'players', or students, to report to the top floor of Building E. He asked for Space players, Time players, and occasionally others. But the students weren't coming back. Parents began to panic. And the teachers knew they had to protect the students.

"But we couldn't refuse the headmaster. We tried, but whenever we did, we found ourselves obeying anyways."

Madame Latula broke in. "Mitun—Professor Captor was our leader. He held the meetings, he came up with plans to avoid losing any more students. He was devoted. But none of his plans were working. One day, he received a note asking for his favourite student, his little cousin, Sollux Captor—he's now the Tech teacher in Mituna's place. With tremendous mental effort—he actually had to call us in to help him—he left the classroom and marched up to the headmaster himself, ready for an argument or a battle. Presumably there was one, because when Professor Captor stumbled out of Building E, he was…well…"

Cold terror ran up and down John's spine. The man who had done this to Professor Captor was in charge of the entire _school_.

Aranea picked up to narrative. "Perhaps the headmaster only allowed him to leave as a warning to us, but it only fuelled our determination. Maybe it would have been better if we had stayed out of the way. Kurloz went in next, with Meulin, and when they emerged, Kurloz was crying and Meulin was deaf. Shortly after, Kurloz sewed his mouth shut. Meulin wouldn't tell me what happened, but apparently the torture Kurloz suffered was so great that his screams deafened Meulin. It took both Horuss and myself to hold Latula back.

"And Damara…well, she changed. She came back with an order of dismissal, but she never left. Only Rufioh ever knows what she's saying, and…she doesn't care about her students nearly as much anymore."

John looked to Terezi. "So is your blindness a result of the headmaser, too?"

Terezi shook her head. "Childhood accident."

Vriska spoke for the first time since the story began. "The answer to your question is, that we are called 'players' because the school was built around a video game, but also because we're only pawns in the headmaster's game. No one dares say his name unless it's necessary. Kids have mostly stopped disappearing, but he's bound to start summoning students again sometime. And if you're a Space or Time player, you're at risk, more so than anyone else."

Jade gripped Dave's sleeve and received a pat on the shoulder.

"How many of us are there?" Dave asked.

Aranea answered. "There are many, but the most prominent are Aradia here, and Kanaya Maryam. You two may be important, too. We just don't know. There's always at least one Space and Time player each year."

"Except that one time," Latula said. "When Jake English and Jane Crocker came in. There were a bunch of Breath and Blood players who all dropped out, but there was a Void player and a Heart player. They've been the only casualties for years."

Aradia's eyes seemed to stare directly into the four kids' souls. "It's funny. They had the same last names as Rose and Dave."

No one spoke for a moment.

"You shouldn't know that, Aradia. You weren't here," Latula said.

"She hears things," Vriska said. "She has since she was younger."

"You said they had our names?" Rose ventured. "What were their full names?"

Aranea gritted her teeth. "Roxy Lalonde and Dirk Strider. They were brilliant students, when Roxy wasn't drunk and Dirk was paying attention. Roxy was the glue that held the class together, but she just vanished. And Dirk…he went the same way, but his departure seemed to calm things down. Jane and Jake were really torn up about it, though. Don't mention their names at all around them." The bespectacled counsellor glared at them in warning.

"But what was the headmaster doing with the students he asked for?"

"If we knew, do you think we would still be sitting around here?" Vriska crossed her arms. "We would have told the authorities or something."

"Why don't you? Surely the whole school must know?" John asked.

Vriska snorted. "If the entire school knew, we wouldn't have called you here. Use some brains, John."

"Why tell us, though?" Rose asked. "What makes us any different from the other freshman?"

Vriska nodded at Rose. "There, someone with intelligent questions."

"Every year brings a group of students with more potential than the rest of their peers," Aranea said. "In Jake's year, it was Roxy, Dirk, Jane, and Jake. You four are powerful, Rose. Just how powerful, or how this power will manifest itself, we can't be sure, but our first clue was the Warhammer."

"The Zillyloo thing?" Dave asked.

"Zillyhoo. It's a powerful Breath weapon, which has collected dust since the beginning of this school. There are lots of powerful weapons in the armoury, some under better lock than others. And I—we—fear that such a blatant display of power will attract the headmaster's attention. We can't lose any more students."

John's friends were looking at him, concerned, but John felt strangely detached, as if he were observing this conversation from the other side of the room. It just didn't seem _real_ to him, that he, geeky little John, could be an object of interest to a maniacal headmaster.

At that moment, Professor Captor started to spaz out uncontrollably, a stream of garbled cuss words pouring forth like glorious rivers of hatred. Meulin and Latula went to work like a well-oiled machine, not touching him, but not allowing him to flail as much as he might otherwise. Latula shot Aranea a pleading look.

"Alright, kids, I think it's about time you head back to your own dorms."

"I'll walk the boys over," Aradia said, hopping up.

After traversing a majority of the way in awkward silence, John got up the nerve to ask the somewhat creepy girl a question that had been bothering him. "Aradia, if Mr. Vantas is one of you, why wasn't he there?"

Aradia's expression and tone didn't change. "He's busy. And he likes to stay out of it as much as possible. He says it's to maintain an outward appearance of normalcy, but I think he's a bit scared. He blames himself personally whenever a student disappears."

/

"Today's minilesson is on Heirs. The core of the Heir is protection; their aspect protects them, but they can also use it, many times, to fight. Many times, an Heir 'becomes' their aspect, however you wish to interpret that. An Heir of Life would be protected by their life, and Heir of Rage would be protected by rage. This can be both a blessing and a curse; if you happen to be an Heir of Doom, be very, very careful."

Mr. Vantas cast a stern, warning look on each of his students, resting finally on Dave.

"Mr. Strider, what is that which you have endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to conceal under your shirt?" The English teacher clenched his fists.

Dave yawned. "Don't know what you're talking about."

In response, Mr. Vantas stepped forward, reached over Dave's head and down his shirt. He drew out a long object.

"Would you care to explain to me why you have a broken sword in my classroom?!"

Dave looked at the sword. "Huh. Interesting."

_Wrong choice of words,_ Jade thought, watching Mr. Vantas's face grow red. Then he exploded.

"That is IT! I KNEW it, I KNEW when I saw you, you're NOTHING BUT A TROUBLEMAKER, STRIDER! You will REPORT to this class after school for DETENTION! And if you think for a moment you can just skip out, you have another THINK coming!"

Dave smirked. "No way would I skip out. Do your worst; I'm the king of apathy."

/

"John? John? You in there?" John broke out of his daydream as a perfectly manicured finger poked him on the nose. Feferi smiled back at him. "If you zone out, you'll get hit by a volleyball!"

"Sorry, Coach—I mean, Feferi," John said. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Lots of homework?" she asked, leading her student off the courts. She looked as if she was ready for a long chat about whatever was bothering him. John momentarily wondered if Feferi might have made a good counsellor.

"Not really…it's not a big deal. Just sort of…homesick! Yeah, homesick. I haven't been away from home for so long before."

Feferi patted his shoulder. He noticed she had freckles. He wasn't sure why he noticed.

"Everyone misses their home. It's perfectly normal. But if you need to talk, I'm always here. Or Aranea."

"Thanks, Feferi."

/

Dave opened the door and entered the classroom. Instead of Mr. Vantas, a similar-looking man in a bright red sweater stood with his arms crossed.

"Welcome, Dave Strider. You are two minutes late. Most inconsiderate of you, as I might have had another appointment. You must remember to check your privilege of time. Simply being a Time player does not give you the privilege of wasting the time of others. Luckily for you, I had no prior appointments to attend. Now, please take a seat here."

Dave did so.

"My name is Kankri Vantas. I am the cousin of your professor, Karkat Vantas. I've been informed of your misbehaviour in this class and have prepared an essay—pardon me, lecture—to correct this. Now, it is my duty to inform you that this lecture may contain a few triggers. These include, but are not limited to, death, derogatory terms, racial slurs, religion, blood, self-harm, torture, lack of checking of privilege, disabilities, generalizations, stereotypes…"

/

It was eleven o'clock when Dave got back to the dorms. John put his book down.

"How was detention?"

"Not bad. Just a few hours of boring, convoluted lectures on my privilege and others lack thereof, and the evils of society. So basically hell. Did you wait up for me?"

"I couldn't fall asleep."

"Still worrying about the headmaster?"

"Yeah."

"Mind if I turn the TV on? I'll mute it."

"Go ahead."

Dave sat down and flicked through the channels, stopping at the cooking channel. He sat watching the woman on the screen make latkes for a while.

"You shouldn't think too much about it, John. Remember, Aranea said that the headmaster mostly chose Space and Time players. If anything happens, Jade and I will probably go with you."

"That doesn't make me feel better about it," John mumbled.

"There's a chance he won't want you."

"I don't think the math is on my side."

"Maybe the kids are okay. Maybe they go on to become great leaders or something."

"And never communicate with their friends or family again?"

"Is that what you're worried about?"

John turned a page in his book and inserted a scrap of paper. "As much as my dad annoys me with his constant baking and his clown obsession, I love him. I don't want him to live with a missing child hanging over him." He stood up. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," Dave said, but John could tell he wasn't really listening.

/

_Clang!_

"Move faster, Strider! Brush up on your blocks!"

_Clang!_

"Do you want to be impaled? Then fight!"

_Clang-BRRRRRRinnnggg_

The half-sword flew across the room and impaled itself in the wall ten feet behind Dave. He lay on the ground, trident tips mere centimetres from his throat. It wasn't very encouraging that Meenah's face was split in a maniacal grin.

"Too slow, Strider." She stepped back and helped him up. "Okay, who's next?"

John raised his hand.

"Not you, Egbert. Zillyhoo is too unpredictable for sparring." Meenah went down the line and chose two students at random. "Be careful! Now, Egbert, come with me."

John followed Meenah out into the hall. She propped her trident against the wall and put her hands on her hips. "There's been a change in schedule for you, Egbert. We can't have you practicing with the war hammer. I'll give you a packet of combat basics; if you need to try them out, schedule with me and I'll find a safe place for sparring. In the meantime, starting tomorrow, you'll be replacing this class with Health. Best of luck."

"Luck? What does that mean?"

Meenah placed a hand on John's shoulder. "It means, I'm sorry."

/

The next day, instead of going to the armoury, John entered the Health classroom. A young woman wearing a kitty-ear hat sat at the desk with a pen, drawing something.

"Oh! Our new student! Welcome! I'm Miss Leijon." The teacher stood up and shook John's hand. "I'll have to find a seat for you…hmm, I'm going to have to rearrange the whole class now! Everybody up!"

The rest of the students exchanged glances and went to the back of the room. The teacher pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and spent the next ten minutes alternating between glancing at her students and scribbling things on her paper.

"Okay, here's the new seating chart! No switching seats without permission!" Miss Leijon slid the paper under the document camera.

John ended up sitting next to a nerdy girl who ignored him completely, so absorbed was she in her book. One of the students in the back of the room raised a hand.

"Miss Leijon, why did we have to move? There was an open seat."

Miss Leijon clasped her hands together. "I had to rearrange my shipping chart! Now you're all sitting next to the person I ship you with. Now, back to the lesson!"

As she turned to the board, the class exchanged awkward glances and half-smiles. A few chairs scooted away from each other.

/

Back in first period, Jade turned the final screw in her robot's head, attaching the last piece of metallic plating to the face. Now she needed to build the body.

A heavy hand rested on her shoulder, causing slight discomfort despite the obvious pains the owner was taking to be gentle. Mr. Zahhak leaned over to get a closer look at the robot.

"Very good, Miss Harley. Truly a fine creation." He pointed to the face. "But where is the mouth and nose?"

"I thought she looked better without them," Jade said, wiping a smudge of oil off her project's face.

Mr. Zahhak nodded. "Creative liberty. Have you devised a name for it?"

"I'm calling her Dream-Jade. I want her to be able to act out my dreams while I'm sleeping. I have this recurring dream where I'm playing this really advanced bass guitar, and it sounds beautiful. I plan to make that guitar, and I'll have the robot play and record it, since I'm putting in extra arms."

"Interesting. Keep up the good work." Mr. Zahhak moved on to the next student. "And what are you making?"

"Um…a miniature me?"

One could almost hear the mental facepalm of Mr. Zahhak.

/

That afternoon, instead of Japanese, Jade entered a slightly damp room filled with the sound of frogs chirping and humming and croaking and wheezing.

Frog Breeding was a Space-specific class, required for all Space players and highly fulfilling, or so Jade was told. It seemed like the teacher agreed.

"Ms. Maryam?"

The tall teacher smiled. "Why, hello, Jade! Don't looks so surprised. I double as the Frog Breeding teacher. It's nice to have a fresh face in my class!"

/

The next day, in English, Mr. Vantas's lecture on Pages was interrupted by note delivered by a cocky-looking older student. He dismissed the young man with a flick of his hand and read the note. On the way out, the student—no, he was a teacher, he had a staff badge—pushed the computer on the desk just slightly, and apologized. Mr. Vantas didn't notice.

When the teacher had finished reading the note, his dark scowl had deepened and his hand was shaking slightly.

Mr. Vantas cleared his throat. "Miss Turner, your presence is required in the headmaster's office, effective immediately. Please gather your things and take this as a pass."

The girl in question, a Seer of Time, shook like a leaf, confused. Rose grit her teeth; she knew what must be going on in the girl's head. What had she done wrong? Had she broken a rule? Why was she in trouble? But Rose knew, and her friends knew, too, that this was far more than a disciplinary visit.

John's knuckles were white as he clutched the edge of his desk. It was all he could do to keep himself from shouting some sort of warning.

When the girl had left, Mr. Vantas rubbed his temples and sat down at his computer to change the attendance list. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide and he bared his teeth.

"Gog fuck it all! That idiot Sollux!" He punched the desk, just left of the keyboard. "He put another damn virus on my computer!" He ripped a USB drive from his computer, and the light from the screen disappeared. He groaned in despair and flung the virus-laden device across the classroom before crossing his arms on the desk and dropping his head down on top with a muffled _thump_.

"Class dismissed early," he mumbled.

/

Friday in Feferi's class was always a swim day. The half of the class who didn't know how to swim stayed in the shallow end with the teacher; Jade, in her red, white-polka-dotted one-piece swimsuit, went off on her own to enjoy the feel of the water. This was something she missed about her home on the island: the feel of waves lapping over her head, the sound of the water when her head went under, the way the light rippled on the floor of the pool—all reminded her of the ocean. Still, as much as she would have loved to live out her life surrounded by the beauty of the wilderness, it had been worth leaving. Seeing her friends for the first time in real life, and the helicopter ride provided by Rose's mom, were treats that Jade had never expected to get.

She had reached one of the branches of the pool. This one was the Breath symbol; she swam into it, and spent a few minutes paddling about in the wave-like pattern, but soon grew bored. Across from it was the Light symbol; in this one, Jade felt too obvious, going around the centre circle and ignoring the points of the sun. She skipped the Doom and Life symbols altogether, and didn't even attempt the complex Rage and Hope pools. She passed the Mind and Blood and came to the other end of the pool. On her left was the Time symbol, and on her right, calling to her, was her own Space insignia.

When she entered the symbol, Jade's blood moved faster, providing more oxygen to her legs and arms so she could swim faster and stronger. She covered every inch, moving to the middle, out to the arms of the spiral, pushing back into a backstroke, flipping over mid-stroke and moving to another arm. It was relaxing and empowering, and Jade felt like she could stay there forever.

She heard laughter from the other end of the pool, and took a break, resting her arms on either side of an arm and boosting herself slightly out of the water to catch a glimpse of the laugher. John was moving like a bird through air in the Breath symbol, moving swiftly in the strong current that had tugged uncomfortably at Jade's legs.

A few other symbols were occupied: in the Mind symbol, a girl circled round and around, as if in a whirlpool; in the Hope symbol, a boy did flying leaps from one part of the pattern to another, catapulting off the deep floor and the sides; a boy in the blood symbol, barely in Jade's line of sight, floated on his back; and in the Doom symbol, a boy and girl were simply treading water, swirling the seemingly darker and thicker liquid as if it were soup. Feferi had one of the girls by the waist and was helping her get used to kicking her legs and moving her arms at the same time.

As she pushed off to resume her swim, Jade thought, _I wouldn't mind if I never left this place._


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: I don't own Homestuck or Negima. This last title will make sense if you read on.**

At breakfast on Saturday, Vriska introduced the kids to Mr. Captor, the Tech teacher.

"Jutht call me Thollux," he said. He frowned. "Thollux…Tholl…Th…"

"Sollux," Vriska said.

"Thankth," he lisped.

"You're the one who crashed Mr. Vantas's computer!" John said.

"Thanks, man," Dave said. "Saved me an hour or so of boring lectures and stupid literature."

"No problem. I'm glad to hear he didn't take out hith fruthration on hith thu—thu—pupilth."

"Nah, he wath—was pretty lax about it." Dave blinked; Sollux's lisp was sort of contagious, like an accent.

"If by lax you mean he threw an electronic device across the room and facedesked in a fit of 'doneness', then yes, he was 'pretty lax'," Rose said. Sollux laughed in delight.

"I with I could have theen that. I knew I thould have hacked the thecurity camerath, but I wath in a hurry…"

"CAPTOR!"

The kids flinched and busied themselves with their meals as their exceedingly angry English teacher stormed between the tables to their own, his face a picture of rage. Sollux pushed his two-coloured glasses up his nose and sauntered off across the room towards the high table, and the empty seat next to Feferi.

/

There were no classes, but Jade wanted to continue work on her robot and Rose had some knitting to do back at her room. Dave wanted to play basketball, but John really wasn't in the mood. He let his friend go off to shoot hoops on his own and meandered around the grounds for a while, until his mind was made up.

Room 8A was on the first floor of Building E, and John had no trouble locating it. He knocked politely, received a warm "Come in!", and pushed open the door.

Inside was a well-lit room, faintly yellow in hue, with a brown reclining couch like those seen in psychologist offices in movies. There was an ugly potted plant in the corner and large, solid wooden desk with a computer, and old-fashioned ink blotter, and yet another spidery plant in a small vase. A small, ornate crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Aranea rested her hands on the desk in front of her and smiled at her guest. "John! It's nice to see you. Are you here to chitchat, or is this something more serious?"

"It's about what you told us."

"Oh. Please, take a seat on the couch and tell me all about it."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not."

"Then come in, and close the door. What about it is bothering you?"

John did as he was told. "Well, yesterday, in third period, there was a girl—"

"Yes, I heard about that. A pity, really, and very bothersome."

John fidgeted with his hood. "I'm afraid that one day, a note will come, and it will be me or Rose or Jade or Dave that the headmaster wants. And I don't know what to do."

Aranea's smile became bittersweet. "John, I can understand your worry. I've lost friends to that man. But until we come up with a more permanent solution, we can only hope for the best, and trust in luck. In fact, I think I'll give you something. Come closer."

John did so. Aranea reached behind her neck and unclasped a small silver chain. As she drew it forward, a small pendant emerged from her neckline and fell forward. She cupped the pendant in her hand and held it forward. "This is my lucky necklace. Where I come from, it is a symbol of a brighter future. I've found that whenever I wear it, my life is protected by luck. That's not to say that I'm unlucky if I don't wear it, but…let's just say things are a bit brighter when I do."

John held up his hands. "I couldn't accept that!"

"I insist, John. You need it more than I do. When things die down—if they die down—you can return it to me, if you wish. That necklace needs to go where it's needed."

John hesitated. Finally, he held out a hand. Aranea placed the necklace in his palm and curled his fingers around it. "Keep it safe, and it will keep you safe. And if you have any other worries, I'll be here. Now, go out and enjoy your Saturday!"

"Yes…thank you," John said.

When the door had closed behind him and he was back in the cool, clean air of the Northwest, John took a closer look at the pendant in his hand. It looked like the horoscope symbol for Cancer, he thought. He put it on and hid the pendant in his uniform, his hood fully concealing this new accessory.

/

"Aren't you going to sit down with us, Dave?" Jade asked at dinner. The blond boy was hastily shoving a ham sandwich into his mouth.

He shook his head and finished chewing. "I can't. I have to practice my combat skills if I want to pass that class any time soon. I'll see you guys tomorrow." And, with the rest of his sandwich still in hand, he rushed out of the dining room.

Rose shrugged. "I won't be with you very long. I thought I'd take the time to examine the library here, once I'm finished with my pasta."

Jade was still puzzling over Dave's behavior. "Yeah…"

"I wonder why he hasn't told us what his first period class is?" John wondered aloud, turning a statement into a question.

"Perhaps it's something 'uncool', like band or interior decorating," Rose joked.

"What's so bad about band?"

"Never mind, John."

/

The library was nearly empty when Rose got there. A few older students were already studying for tests in AP classes, and a small black cat with two white, eye-like spots above it's real eyes, were the only visible occupants.

It was the first time that Rose had had free reign in a library. Usually, her mother would simply buy books for herself and expect Rose to enjoy them, too. But here, to read or not to read was all up to her.

She went straight for the fantasy novels, and when she'd narrowed it down to about five, she went to the classics, and then the psychology. With her arms full, she rounded the corner into the poetry section and nearly bumped into someone else. As it was, she lost her grip on her books, and several of them tumbled to the floor.

"Oh! I am so sorry, young lady. No, please, don't bother to bend down and get them, it is my own fault. Here, allow me. You have quite a lot of books there, if I may be so BOLD as to say so. I do not mean to be rude. Oh, f*ddlest*cks." Somehow, the man was able to convey asterisks in his speech. "Now I've dropped my broom. Ah! Language! So sorry, miss. Here you go! That's the last one!"

As the man, who was blocked from Rose's sight by the large stack of books, placed the last tome on the top of the pile, the entire stack collapsed. He slapped a hand to his mouth.

His mouth was, really, the only facial feature visible. He wore a strange mask—or was it a helmet? Maybe a hood? Or something?—with goggles, and his horns—for he was a troll—stuck out though holes in the top. It gave a strange impression, like a bug or an astronaut, or maybe a skull. Rose wasn't quite sure.

The man was now crawling around on the floor, simultaneously retrieving books and accidentally smacking them farther apart. All the while, he kept up a constant stream of apologies and mild, censored 'curse' words, which never got much worse than 'heck'. There were also a lot of horse puns.

"Perhaps it would be better simply to gather them up in a neat cluster, sir, and organize them later," Rose suggested, picking up a few of the nearest books.

"Yes, yes, that would be more efficient…"

Rose went down the aisle a bit to retrieve the runaway novels. When she turned around, the man was puzzling over a neat pyramid of books.

"Oops. I guess I got a bit carried away. Hard to rein in when I'm off full gallop, ha, ha." His laugh came out more like a whinny, if it was possible for a human—er, troll—to whinny. He scratched the back of his head, even though it was covered by his helmet.

"That's fine. Thank you for your help." Rose placed her pile next to it. "Would it be troublesome if I left them here while I look around this aisle?"

"Not at all, miss."

Rose glanced around. The bookshelves towered over her, up into the rafters. The library had been built like a mini skyscraper, and was an add-on that ran behind the two dormitories, with exits on every floor into the dorms themselves. The dorms were each eight floors tall; the library, however, was nine.

There were huge, old trees that must have been there since before construction, and had simply been incorporated into the floorplan. Each tree was ringed with benches to sit on and read by the light of Chinese lanterns that gave off much better light than they should have. Plants grew on the shelves, and there were a couple of waterfalls, too. It reminded Rose of the library she had once seen in a wizard manga, Negima.

Her eye caught on a thick book on the seventh shelf, well out of Rose's reach. She tapped her foot and tapped her lip, trying to devise a method to safely obtain the book.

A strong tap on her shoulder derailed that train of thought.

"Excuse me, miss, but I could not help noticing that you were looking at a book that is higher on the shelves. Would you like me to help you get it down?"

He_ was_ much taller. Rose nodded.

"Up we go, then."

He grabbed her around the waist suddenly and lifted her into the air. She found herself kneeling on his shoulders, just on level with the shelf she needed, but well to the right of the book. She looked down; the man was also pointedly looking down, presumably so as not to see up her skirt. He needn't have worried; Rose liked to wear shorts under her skirts.

"Could you perhaps move to the left a bit, sir?"

"What? Oh, yes, of course."

She wobbled a bit as he repositioned them. He went too far, though, and the book was just out of her reach.

"A little to the right, please."

He barely moved. Rose hooked a finger on the top of the book's spine and tugged a bit to loosen the dusty tome. When she was able to, she grabbed the spine and pulled it out.

There was a heartstopping moment when her leg slipped and she teetered, one arm holding the shelf. Then her other hand lost its grip on the smooth wood of the shelf, and she fell backwards, a small, surprised yelp escaping her lips. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Instead of the floor, though, she plopped into the man's arms, the gold-plated book landing on her stomach and knocking the wind out of her so effectively that she began to panic.

"Easy there, miss. Breathe in, and out. In, and out." When Rose's breathing had returned to normal, the man placed her back on her feet and patted her shoulder. It sort of hurt.

"So sorry, miss, for dropping you like that."

"It's fine, thank you."

The man smiled. "You are welcome, miss. Just doing my job."

"And what is your job, exactly?" Rose asked, curious.

"Janitor, actually, but I double as librarian. It's refreshing to meet a young filly who enjoys reading so much. Too many young ones these days don't appreciate fine literature."

"I know what you mean." _So this is Horuss?_ Rose thought. For some reason, perhaps because of the name, Rose had expected an Egyptian man, not a troll. And definitely not this. He didn't seem the type of person to be a janitor.

Horuss looked as if he might have said something in reply, but he suddenly shut his mouth and hid behind the pile of books he had created. Rose looked behind her casually, as if looking for another book.

A female troll stepped into view and stopped. She turned her head and met Rose's gaze with pure white eyes and a blank expression. Then her eyebrows arched downwards and her round, red lips curved up in a sinister grin, and a hiss of laughter escaped her throat. She was a grown woman, but she wore an Asian schoolgirl uniform and way, way too much make-up.

Rose averted her gaze, pretending to go back to looking at the titles of books. After a few minutes, the woman walked away.

When the coast was clear, Rose gave up the pretence and Horuss stood up.

"So sorry," he whispered. "Damara Megido always worries me. She's not the same as—" he clammed up. "Never mind. I can help you check out your books, if you are ready, miss."

Rose nodded, but her mind was elsewhere.

_So, that's Damara Megido…_

/

Early on Sunday morning, Jade woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. It was still dark out; the buffet wouldn't be open for a few hours. Restless, Jade silently dressed in a T-shirt, a hoodless sweatshirt, and jeans, slipped some warm socks on, and grabbed her boots. She crept out into the hall, taking every pain not to wake Rose, and pulled her boots on before tip-toeing down the hall, descending the stairs, and sneaking out the doors into the chilly morning air. Jade immediately regretted not taking a hat.

Perhaps she would explore a bit. There was some space behind the library that was so far out of the way that no one ever went there, and Jade was curious as to why. Perhaps there was some deeper reason? But if there was, surely there would be a rule about it?

Whatever the reason might be, Jade _was_ curious, and when Jade was curious, it was hard to persuade her to leave the matter alone. Head held high, she rounded the dormitory and walked along the wall, fingertips brushing the stone to guide her. Eventually, after what felt like ages, the stone ran out, and her hand was fluttering about in midair. She found the wall again and crept along behind the library.

It was getting lighter now, the cold, bright white of a cloudy Washington morning. There was enough darkness, however, to raise Jade's suspicion when a hint of candlelight caught her eye.

Up ahead was a small chapel, not very tall or wide. It had dusty stained glass windows and wooden timbers, with stone steps leading up to the firmly-shut wooden doors. Jade tested the handle and found it was unlocked. Or maybe there was no lock; it certainly looked old enough.

The hinges creaked as she pushed the door open and peered in. There were four rows of pews, crammed against the wall to make a decent aisleway. At the head of the church was an ornate, carefully-crafted fresco of a mother and child, ringed by a halo of brilliant light. Candles burned in three-pronged holders on either side of the fresco. A faded red carpet covered the aisle and led up the steps to the platform which held a small wooden altar, a few holly bushes in pots, and a small, green _something_.

Jade slipped in and paused. The something was muttering under its breath, and hunched over as if praying. Perhaps it was praying. But the thing looked more like a demon from where Jade stood, and she wasn't sure demons prayed. She wasn't even sure _how_ one was supposed to pray; her grandfather had never taught her.

The carpet muffled her steps. She was able to creep up behind the thing at the altar and tap it on the shoulder. The creature spun around.

Its eyes were large and scared. Its cheekbones, or what Jade assumed were cheekbones, protruded, made even harsher because the thing seemed to be a sort of skeleton creature. It had little green swirls on its cheeks.

"Please! Don't hurt me! Don't look at me!" The creature covered its face with its claws and huddled into a protective ball on the steps. "Please!"

"I won't hurt you," Jade soothed. The thing just seemed so pitiful, how could she ever dream of harming it?

One eye peered out from between the creatures fingers. "You promise?" it said, British accent more pronounced.

"I promise. What's your name, little guy?"

"Girl. I'm a girl." The creature turned away from Jade. "My name is Calliope."

"What a pretty name! I'm Jade Harley. Are you a student at SBURB, too?"

Calliope shook her head. "I wish I could be, but it will never happen."

"Why not?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Jade knelt next to Calliope. The green girl turned her face away.

"Don't do that, Calliope. You don't look that bad."

"I'm hideous."

"No, you're not. There are so many things in the world that are worse. Please?"

Reluctantly, Calliope turned her head.

"Oh, you're cute!" And Jade meant it. The little swirls added a touch of adorable to the skull-like face. Calliope smiled, making her even cuter.

"You're just saying that…"

"Not at all!" A thought occurred to Jade. "If you asked anyone else, I think they'd agree."

Calliope turned away. "I can't ask anyone else. No one should even know I'm here. I never leave this place."

"Then how do you get food?"

"Well, there was this girl, Roxy, who used to show up three times a day with food. But she stopped coming a while ago. Do you know why, perhaps?" Calliope's eyes widened.

Jade hesitated. "Um…I think she had to go somewhere. So nobody brings you food anymore?"

"Oh, no, occasionally someone drops a basket off. I don't know who, because they leave the basket by the door, and knock. But they always make sure to give me only vegetarian meals. I don't really like eating meat."

Bright light was filtering through the stained glass. If Jade didn't hurry back, she'd have a lot more explaining to do. "I'm sorry, Calliope, but I have to go. I'll try to bring you food sometime, okay? And it was nice meeting you!"

"It was nice to meet you, too, Jade. And please, don't tell anyone about me. It's safer that way."

"Alright, I promise."

/

The coconut-white light filtered in through the blinds, bathing John's room and making it much too bright to sleep. John fumbled for his glasses and rubbed the sleep from the corners of his eyes before getting dressed in a T-shirt, a green jacket, and jeans. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and yawned profusely.

When he left his room, he found Dave sleeping on the couch.

Dave hadn't returned from the armory when John had turned in for bed last night (which, admittedly, was pretty early), and John hadn't heard him come in. He must have been exhausted if he's chosen to sleep on the couch.

Dave looked really, really cold. It was hard enough adjusting to the Washington climate, but when you were from Texas, it was worse. And Dave had fallen asleep with his shades on, too tired to close the curtains to protect his sensitive eyes from the light.

Deciding it was probably best not to wake his friend, John instead grabbed a blanket and draped it over him. He noticed a folder in Dave's hand; most likely, it held instructions on correct form and other combat-related things.

When he was sure Dave was comfortable, John left for breakfast.

/

When Jade got back from her adventure, she found Rose sitting on the couch, tapping her foot.

"Excuse me, but where were you at this hour, young lady?" Rose asked, eyebrows raised and expression set halfway between suggestive and skeptical.

Jade had prepared an excuse. "I just fancied a walk. The air here is nice, if it is a bit cold." Okay, so it wasn't really an excuse, but it held truth, so it wasn't a lie, right?

One of Rose's eyebrows looked like it planned to escape into her hairline.

"It's true!"

Rose ran her gaze up and down her roommate. Jacket, boots, fully clothed…well, it wasn't exactly the attire of someone sneaking out for certain late-night activities, was it? Not that jade owned anything of the sort, as far as Rose knew…

"Okay, I believe you. Please forgive me for acting like a mother."

Jade giggled. "No, it's fine. I've never had a mother, so it's sort of nice knowing there's someone to worry about me."

Rose stood up and offered an arm. "Shall we proceed to the dining room?"

/

Dave joined his friends halfway through breakfast, sloppily dressed and with tousled, unbrushed hair. A few of the more gutter-minded students snickered as he passed.

"Sup, dudes," Dave mumbled as he plopped a tray of apple juice and eggs down. He yawned.

"Late night, hmm?" Rose said suggestively.

"It takes a lot out of you, fighting does," Dave said. "Not that you'd know, Rose. Seers don't get much combat training, do they?"

"Dave was so tired he couldn't even make it to his bed!" John laughed.

Dave scratched the back of his head. "Did I wake you up? Sorry, dude."

"Nah, you were fine. I just noticed you this morning."

"Oh. Thanks for the blanket, man."

"No problem."

/

The kids spent their Sunday casually, alternately doing their own thing and hanging out. Vriska was busy most of the day; apparently, she was already failing at least three classes.

At dinner, Dave started the conversation.

"There's a church service after dinner. Anybody else going?"

Rose raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware you were religious, Dave."

"When you live in the South, it's hard not to be."

Rose returned to her tea and crackers. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, Dave, but I'm atheist."

"I'm Jewish," John said with a shrug.

Dave turned to Jade. "What about you?"

Jade fidgeted. "I've never been to church…I mean, I celebrate Christmas and all that, but living on an island, there aren't exactly many chances for Sunday mass." She looked up. "But I'd like to go, to see what it's like."

Dave smiled. "There's no harm in trying. After dinner, you might want to change into a dress or something, and I'll meet you outside your dorm, okay?"

"Sort of an odd first date, isn't it, Dave?" Rose said. Jade blushed discreetly.

"Haha, very funny, Rose."

/

"So? What did you think?" Dave asked on the way back.

"I liked the singing parts. But I spent more time reading the Bible than actually listening to the sermon," Jade said, feeling a bit ashamed of herself.

Dave laughed. "That's what I did when I was younger. I was more interested in the stories than what they meant. Would you go again?"

Jade nodded. "I think I could get used to it."

From behind, a voice cursed hesitantly. Jade and Dave turned around and saw the crippled boy that Vriska had tormented, trying to unstick the wheels of his chair from a rut in the ground. No one was helping him.

"You go on ahead, Dave, I'll catch up," Jade said. Dave nodded, and Jade went back to help.

"Here, let me," she said, and bent down carefully. The rut was full of mud, and her blue dress got covered.

"Um, you don't have to, your dress is getting all, um, dirty," the boy stuttered.

"It's okay. Man, you really are stuck, aren't you? Maybe try leaning to the right a bit?"

He didn't respond. Jade looked up.

The area around them was deserted, save for a lone figure about six feet away: Damara Megido.

The boy had gone rigid with fear. Jade felt her hands start to sweat under the blank white gaze of her former teacher. To her dismay, Ms. Megido began to close the gap between them.

"Um, good evening, Ms. Megido," Jane said. "Lovely night, isn't it?"

The Japanese teacher said nothing, but pulled the chopsticks out of her hair menacingly.

"Ms. Megido…?"

The woman was three feet away when an Australian-accented voice yelled, "Damara!"

Ms. Megido's gaze left the children and moved up and to the left. Jade turned around to see her savior.

A troll with large wings and horns was walking towards them, having left the church a bit late. He wore a large smile, but it seemed somewhat forced, as if he wasn't sure if a smile was the right expression.

"What are you doing out here? It's late."

"私がなりたい場合、私はここにすることができます."

"I know, but it's cold, and there's no reason to be scaring the students like this."

"だから？おそらく彼らはそれに値する。私はこの女の子が好きではありません。彼女は私のクラスを落とし、彼女はサック次第です。"

"Please, Damara?"

She hesitated, and Jade thought her eyes might have flickered to the boy in the wheelchair; it was hard to be sure when the woman had no pupils or irises.

"ファイン。" Ms. Megido sheathed her needles/chopsticks in her hair again and turned on her heel.

"You look lovely tonight, doll!" yelled the troll as the Japanese teacher walked away. She stopped for a second, then with a shake of her head continued at a faster pace.

When she had gone, the man turned to Jade and the boy. "You'll have to excuse Damara, dolls. She's got a bit of a temper. I don't believe I've seen you in my classes," he said, poking at Jade's shoulder playfully.

"I'm Jade Harley."

"Ah, the Space player Damara was telling me about. She's always a bit tetchy when someone drops her class." He smiled at the boy. "Tavros! How's that Spanish coming along?"

"_Muy bien, _Señor Rufioh," the boy replied with a grin. Jade noticed that when he spoke Spanish, all the hesitation and stuttering went out of his voice.

"Good to hear! Keep up the good work!" He noticed the wheel that was stuck. "Let me help you with that, kids."

When Tavros was unstuck, Señor Rufioh waved goodbye. Tavros and Jade walked back to the dorms together in an awkward silence. When they parted ways, Tavros apologized again for Jade's 'ruined' dress, even though Jade insisted that it would be easy to clean. He was a bit exhausting, actually.

When Jade entered the shared room, Rose had gone to bed. There was a note on the kitchen counter, along with Rose's cell phone. The note said:

Dave called to make sure you got home okay. You might wish to text him and let him know you did.

Jade did. Before she had walked away, a new message popped up.

Good night

-Dave

/

**Okay, if it bothers anyone, just know that Damara's form of Japanese is literally the shitty kind you get when you run text through Google translate. No complaining, okay?**

**Translation:**

**1) I can be out here if I want to be**

**2) So? Maybe they deserve it. I don't like this girl. She dropped my class and she's a suck-up.**

**3) Fine.**

**Yeah, so my headcanon is that Rufioh has an Australian accent. But he doesn't use a lot of Australian slang.**


	5. Chapter 5

**IMPORTANT! Chapter 1 has been updated with changes to the lay-out of the school and a correction about the schedule. I dropped the weekly breaks because it was too hard to remember which weeks they had off. If you started reading this after I updated the first chapter (currently it is December 30****th**** where I am on the west coast of the U.S.A), then ignore this. **

**Thank you and please forgive my poor foresight. Enjoy the mishaps.**

Jade rushed across the skybridge. She had been thinking about Calliope on her way to class, and instead of going to her Robotics class, she had gone to second period Geometry. She cursed her absent-mindedness.

Suddenly, she came to a halt. Looking down through the one-way glass, Jade saw two figures huddled together. Glancing around, and seeing no one, Jade let her curiosity get the better of her, and she lowered herself to the floor to get a better look.

She gasped. Mr. Captor and Aradia Megido were talking, but their faces were _much_ closer than was really necessary. And as she watched, Aradia leaned forward and kissed the teacher, on the lips, as if she'd done it hundreds of times before.

Jade experienced that heavy feeling one gets when they know they've just witnessed something that no one was meant to see. It was completely inappropriate, and Jade knew she was under obligation to tell someone, but…was that the right thing to do? Jade didn't want to cause any trouble.

Right now, though, her biggest problem was getting to class on time. Somehow, Jade didn't think that Mr. Zahhak would give her a break, even if she was his favourite student.

So, burying the shame and secret deep in her subconscious, Jade hopped up and ran as quietly as she could to her classroom.

/

**The Next Day…**

"Shit!" Dave clutched at his arm and backed away from his sparring partner. Blood seeped down his shirt, matching the color exactly.

"Ah, glub, Strider! I expected better from you! C'mon, let me take a look." Meenah pulled his hand away. "Shit, that does look bad. Okay, I'll write you a pass to the hospital wing. And Mr. Undershaft, good job, but in this class you need to be more careful with that axe!"

So Dave found himself clutching a pink piece of paper and on his way to the infirmary on the top floor of Building B. His arm was still bleeding, and it hurt like heck, but Dave didn't shed a single tear.

It helped that he'd had some good news recently.

He knocked on the green door that marked the infirmary, and was met by Nurse Meulin, who took one look at his arm and steered him by the shoulders to a bed. She bustled around him, retrieving and applying disinfectant, medicines, and bandages. She said, in a louder-than-necessary voice, that he was to stay in his bed until she gave him permission to leave, and then he was to be excused from weapons class until his muscles had fully healed.

_And it's my sword arm, too,_ Dave though with a scowl. Nurse Meulin scampered off somewhere else, leaving Dave alone.

Or, partially alone. Now that he had the chance to look around, Dave saw that the bed next to him was occupied by Mituna Captor.

Mituna Captor was currently grinning at Dave.

"Uh, hi…"

"H3LL0."

There was something about Mituna's garbled speech that conveyed symbols in the place of letters.

"So, uh, how's life?"

No response.

"Okay, do you like rap?"

"N0."

"You don't want to hear my sick beats?"

"N0."

"Okay…where are you from?"

"N0."

"Oh, sorry I asked, dude."

"N0."

"Are you just saying no to say no?"

"N0."

Dave rubbed a hand down his face. "Why do I even bother?"

"1'M 50RRY."

"Nah, don't be. You can't help it, right?"

"1'M 50RRY."

"Hey, man, cheer up."

"N0."

Dave gave up. After a few minutes, though, Mituna started talking.

"H4V3 Y0U 7H33N MY H4ML37?"

"Your Hamlet?"

"MY H4ML37."

"Like, the book?"

"N0. MY H4ML37."

"Uh…you mean helmet?"

Mituna nodded.

"It's on your head."

The former professor reached up and patted his helmet to check. "0H. 574NK Y0U."

"No problem, bro."

The door to the ward opened, and Madame Latula came in carrying a tray of food. "Mituna! I have your favourites! Biscuits with honey, and cinnamon rolls, and raspberries!" She came up short when she saw that there was another patient in the ward. Her face transformed from a smile to a more professional blank stare.

"Y4Y! R47H83RR137H!" Mituna reached for the tray, and Latula resumed her smile, albeit a little more reserved, and set the food on his lap. By the time Dave had figured out the "R47H83RR137H" meant "raspberries", the food item in question had been devoured and half the cinnamon roll had disappeared down Mituna's throat.

/

At dinner on September 11, there was only one topic of discussion: Vriska.

To be more precise, it was the horrible injury Vriska had sustained.

Seconds after dinner had begun, they had heard a scream, and soon after, Horuss had rushed past the dining room carrying a bloody, crying Vriska, who was cursing through her tears. Some students believed it was simply karma; others thought she must have finally met her match; some speculated that a teacher had finally snapped and Vriska had been on the receiving end of a breakdown; and some, but very few, worried about her. John wanted to go to the hospital wing right away, but Jade and Rose convinced him that dinner should come first. That way, all three of them could go up, the girls to visit Dave and John to visit Vriska, as well.

Upon entering, Nurse Meulin threw up her hands in exasperation, giving up on any chance of a peaceful, quiet recovery for her patients. She motioned for them to be quiet, because Mituna was sleeping.

Vriska had been put across from Dave, so the kids went opposite ways.

Up close, Vriska's injuries were even worse. Her arm wasn't left arm wasn't just injured, it was clean off. Blue blood was still pouring fourth from the wound. Nurse Meulin was trying to concoct a medicine to staunch the bleeding, but she had to stop every fifteen minutes to change the bandages. Vriska looked much paler, and it worried John.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked. The nurse just shook her head.

"You can talk to me," Vriska mumbled. She cracked an eye open; the other was hidden under a bloody eyepatch, but at least that wound seemed to have stopped bleeding. "It's pretty boring here."

"What happened? Everyone in the dining room had a theory."

"I'm sure they do. I hope too many people didn't see me crying."

"I think the whole room saw."

"Blast. Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what happened. One minute I was sneaking in the back way to steal some extra pastries, and I caught sight of this cue ball, and the next moment I was on the ground and my eye and arm hurt like _hell_. And then I realized I didn't have a left arm or eye, and I started to scream for help. My head still aches."

Meulin shooed John away and poked a needle into Vriska's good arm. Within minutes, the troll girl was in a painless, drug-induced slumber, and Meulin was back to working on her medicine. John went to say hi to Dave.

"Pretty eventful week, huh?" Dave said. He gestured to his arm. "Nice _armful_ of injuries!"

"Very funny, Strider," John said. "When are you allowed to leave?"

"Should be tomorrow, actually. This thing needs to heal quickly, though."

"Why?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to do homework without your dominant hand, am I right?"

It was strange. Dave wasn't the sort of person who worried about homework, except to complain about it. But John shrugged it off.

"Hey, was Vantas pissed that I missed his class on Tuesday?"

"There was a note excusing you."

"Darn, it would have been funny."

The door to the infirmary rattled open loudly. Mr. Zahhak entered with a full toolkit under his arm. Nurse Meulin looked up and smiled.

"I am sorry it took so long. I am now ready to proceed." He sat down beside Vriska and began taking measurements. "It would be easier if you could stop the blood flow."

Meulin signed something. Mr. Zahhak nodded. "I see. This may take some time, but I am confident that when it is completed, she will have full use of her left arm."

"She's sort of missing her left arm," Dave said. Mr. Zahhak jumped, as if noticing them for the first time. The stool he was sitting on broke.

"Ah, Miss Harley. Perhaps you would give me a hand? You've certainly exhibited promise in my class."

"Um, sure," Jade said. "What would we be working on?"

Mr. Zahhak reached into his toolkit and pulled out various strips of metal. "We would be crafting a prosthetic arm with full movability and motor functions."

Jade's face lit up in a way only machines could make her. "Sounds like fun!"

"Perhaps we should return to our dorms, John," Rose said, tugging on his arm. "Dave needs his rest."

As they passed Mituna, the broken troll woke up. "WHY 15 17 50 N015Y 1N H73R3?"

Dave answered. "Just some newcomers, nothing to worry about. It'll be quieter in a minute or two."

Mituna rolled over and mumbled, "R47H83RR137H."

After that, John and Rose made sure to move much quieter until they were in the hall.

"How does Dave even understand that guy?" John asked. Rose just shrugged and started down the hall.

They were almost to the skybridge when a female troll rounded the corner, and Rose recognized the blank white eyes and red attire of Damara Megido.

As discreetly as she could, Rose whispered, "Stay calm. Don't say anything."

"Why not?" John asked, in his normal volume. Rose would have united her face with her palm had she not been so nervous.

The teacher stopped and stared at them as they approached, one eyebrow cocked. Rose avoided eye contact, but John, his curiosity peaked by Rose's enigmatic instructions, couldn't help sneaking a glance. In the short span of time that their eyes met, Damara smiled sinisterly, posed one hand in a V, and stuck her tongue through it.

John blushed and looked away.

/

In two days, Dave had settled easily back into his normal routine of secret class-piss off the teachers-eat-sleep-rap. His arm was on the mend, leaving only a pink scar that was barely noticeable, especially since his uniform covered it completely. His uniform, in fact, had been expertly mended by Kanaya herself, in such a way that the job was completely invisible. Dave had actually had to threaten to strip in order to get the thing away from the admiring eyes and hands of Rose Lalonde.

During first period, the announcement had been made that any students who wished to run for student council were to report ASAP to Miss Terezi Pyrope. Rose had skipped lunch to do so, and now, in quick order, the ballots were being passed around.

"The voting actually takes place on Monday," Rose explained, "but the teachers wanted to give kids the weekend to decide which candidate to choose. They move things like this a bit fast, though."

"Who else is running for treasurer?" Jade asked.

"Just a couple of kids who want to have something on their college application. Far too many of them were Thieves, though. See, they put the titles next to the candidates' names."

"Considering the competition, you'll win by a landslide," Dave said.

"Oh, you know these things, always a popularity contest. I just thought it was worth a shot."

John perused the list. "Hey, Vriska's on here for president! But there's no way she could have signed up…"

"Oh, that." Rose waved a hand. "Miss Pyrope filled in for Vriska. She knew it would crush Vriska if she didn't have the chance."

"And Kanaya is running for Vice President!"

"Hey, Rose," Dave said, smirking, "this wouldn't happen to have anything to do with why you're only running for treasurer, would it?"

Rose's face became unreadable. "I don't know what you're referring to."

/

The election day was marred a bit by the disappearance of yet another student: Aradia Megido.

The students noticed that some of the teachers were strangely more subdued than usual, but nothing drastic happened until fifth period.

The kids were in the swimming pool again, and the ones who were learning were making progress. Feferi was letting them swim on their own now.

Suddenly, Aranea burst into the room. "Feferi!"

The gym teacher poked her head out of the water. "Here! What's got your gills in a knot, Aranea?"

"It's Sollux. He's locked himself in his classroom and his students are waiting outside. He won't listen to anyone but you, Feferi. Do you think you could leave the class for a few minutes? I'll get Meenah to watch them, they'll be safe with her."

"Okey-dokey!" Feferi vaulted herself out of the water and splashed out of the room with Aranea following close behind. The kids continued swimming, but many congregated in groups by the edge to chat about this turn of events.

"What do you think is wrong with him?"

"Unteacherly behavior, certainly."

"Do you think there was…?"

"I don't know, Mr. Zahhak was pretty gloomy today, too."

John, Rose, and Jade met between the Light and Breath pools. Dave, a slower swimmer, was still making his way over.

John waved. "Hurry up, Dave!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Dave grinned.

And then his grin was replaced by shock, then pain, and fear, and then he was clutching at his leg as he went under.

Gasps went up from around the room; the voices hushed as people froze. Rose gripped the side of the pool.

There was a second splash, and John was shooting through the water faster than they would've believed, until he reached the spot where Dave had vanished.

/

Dave's heart pounded in his chest. His lungs ached as water poured in. He tried to hold his breath, but water was still flowing up his nose. His leg was cramped and hurt like heck. His eyes widened and stung; he seemed to have lost his goggles. Was he facing the right way, or was he pointed downward? And he was still sinking. He flailed around and felt a rippling pain in his arm, where his sword wound had recently healed. Blood clouded his vision. Even the light from the pool lights disappeared as his head grew foggy…

He was vaguely aware of pressure under his arms, but his sense had gone numb. Damn, his lungs felt like they were going to explode…

Suddenly, in a cruel second, Dave's senses were reawakened by the stinging cold of the air above the pool and the bright lights shining down. There was some cheering, a few cries of concern, and someone was shouting, "Go get Nurse Meulin!" But his vision was still muddled and his ears were full of water and he still couldn't fucking _breathe_.

The rough floor of the aquatic center scraped against his back. Dave heard gasps; most likely they had seen his arm wound. Then he was being held upright and someone was pounding his back, and water was coming up his throat and it felt _wonderful_ to have empty lungs again. He promptly filled them with air.

"That's right, just breathe. Cough if you have to, but mostly breathe. Rose, get some tap water and towels. You, get him his glasses. C'mon, man, breathe normally, there's plenty of air."

Dave was still gulping air. Suddenly, it felt like some of the air he breathed _in_ had been breathed _out_, without him actually exhaling. He exhaled what he had and tried again. The same thing happened. He tried breathing less; nothing weird happened this time.

"Good, keep doing that."

Water trickled out of one ear. Then it went out the other.

"John…?"

"You're fine, Dave. It was just a cramp. No, don't try to stand up yet. And stop moving your arm."

"I can't see…"

Someone else said, "I got his glasses!" Soon, the shades were on Dave's face, and he was no longer blinded by the lights.

Rose returned with a glass of water and some towels. Dave accepted the towels, turning himself into a cocoon, but when she tried to hand him the water, he shook his head.

"Dave, you need to drink something…"

"I've had enough water."

"Dave!"

"C'mon, Dave, you need _real_ water."

"I think that was pretty real."

"Dave, breathe normally."

Dave took a deep, shaky breath. _Get it together, man. This isn't cool._

"I'd rather have some AJ."

"I am not running all the way to the boys' dormitory in my swimsuit to get you a bottle of apple juice, Dave," Rose said. "Now drink the water."

More footsteps. "Glub it, can't you kids manage to stay safe for five minutes?" But Meenah sounded concerned. Then Nurse Meulin shoved everyone aside, removed the towels, and motioned to Meenah. Together, they attempted to pick him up.

"Whoa, whoa, I can walk!" Dave shrugged them off and took a few steps before falling forward. The teacher and nurse grabbed him.

"You need to rest, Strider," Meenah said. "Oxygen deprivation and all that. Whether you like it or not, you're spending the next hour in the infirmary. Again."

When the teachers had hauled Dave away, nobody wanted to get back in the water. They broke into separate groups again.

"That was scary," Jade said, clutching her chest. She was out of breath from running; she was also coming down from the adrenaline rush caused by the fear that any wasted second could cost her friend his life.

"That was quick thinking, John," Rose said. Her hands were shaking a bit. "Have you done that before?"

John shook his head. "It was instinct, I guess. Dave went under, I can swim, I'll go get him. And when he wasn't breathing right, I don't know, I just…sort of made him breathe in less air until he calmed down. For some reason I was really concerned about his breathing. It was like, hey, I can do something about this, right? So I did." He scratched his head. "I'm not making much sense, am I?"

"Well," Rose said, "you are a Breath player. Perhaps you were using your 'inner strength'." Rose laughed.

"Heh."

Jade slumped against John, exhausted. "I just wish I had done something more," she mumbled. "I can swim. Why didn't I go after him?"

John patted his friend awkwardly on the head. "People react differently to stuff like this. It's fine."

"I guess…" But Jade didn't really believe it.

/

Dave was back for the last half of sixth period, and he made it through seventh without any trouble. At dinner, the results of the election, which had been gathered up at the beginning of first period, were announced. Rose grinned from ear to ear when she found out that, not only had she been elected, _Kanaya_ had been elected, too. Vriska, to everyone's surprise, had actually won the election in absentee. And the secretary was some third-year boy. John heard one boy at a nearby table mutter, "Lucky son of a bitch, in there with all those girls."

Up at the teacher's table, Sollux was poking at his food half-heartedly, not really eating anything. Feferi was chatting to him, trying to keep up his spirits and, Rose expected, prevent him from making a spectacle of himself. At least, any more than he already had.

/

**And on that note, you'll have to wait. I've plotted out the next couple of chapters so it should come quickly, but I have a couple of Hetalia fanfics to continue, too, so there's no guarantee. Also, with Christmas break about to end, I'll be forced to conform to a 2-hours-a-day-every-day-Monday-through-Thursday-computer-time thing. And school. Sorry.**


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